Traumatic arterial thoracic outlet syndrome after multiple rib fractures not including the first rib in Korea: a case report

Arterial thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) resulting from thoracic trauma is an exceedingly rare condition, typically caused by a fracture of the first rib or clavicle. In this report, the author presents a case of traumatic arterial TOS precipitated by multiple left rib fractures, notably excluding the first rib, following a fall from a 2-m high stepladder. The patient was treated successfully with first rib resection via a transaxillary approach, and the postoperative course was uneventful. The literature includes no known reports of traumatic arterial TOS in patients with multiple fractures that spare the first rib, making this the first documented case of its kind. In this instance, the patient sustained fractures to the fourth and fifth ribs. The TOS was likely not a direct result of the multiple rib fractures, which were located some distance from the thoracic outlet. Rather, it is hypothesized that the trauma from these fractures caused a soft tissue injury within the thoracic outlet, which ultimately led to the development of TOS.